Drivers around Cambridge will have to be on the look-out as more cameras are planned for the city centre to catch out motorists driving in bus-only areas.

More cameras are set to be installed in Cambridge to act as “bus gates” and stop drivers from going into bus-only parts of the city. The measure would replace rising bollards which currently block off these areas.

It is hoped the bus-gate cameras will allow buses and other permitted vehicles through more quickly, and that the revenue gained from fining drivers caught out by the cameras will pay for the installation. Overall, it is hoped the cameras will save Cambridgeshire County Council £400.

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According to a business case put to the council’s Highways and Community Infrastructure committee yesterday (October 10): “We are installing more cameras to do more bus lane enforcement to keep traffic moving on our roads.

“Where people are caught driving in bus lanes we will enforce penalties. There are some areas with rising bollards which is out-dated technology and expensive to maintain therefore where possible this is being replaced with bus gate enforcement using automatic number plate recognition to enforce the restriction. The ongoing costs would remain and traffic would continue to move down restricted roads and be unable to enforce.”

According to the business case, there is an assumption that drivers will continue to drive into restricted areas, and that the fines will be more than the cost to install in the first place.

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Speaking at the committee, Cllr Bill Hunt said the council had to avoid “Orwellian” methods of surveillance.

“I am a country boy,” said Cllr Hunt. “And I’m concerned we’ll have an Orwellian feel in Cambridge.”

He said he didn’t want to see people just being fined if, for example, their wheel strayed into a bus lane, and said there needed to be a “more human” approach to determining whether people would be fined.

Executive director for economy, transport and environment, Graham Hughes, reassured Cllr Hunt, and said any revenue generated from the cameras would need to be reinvested into highways projects. He denied it was an exercise in lining council coffers, and said it was more about deterring cars from restricted parts of the city and making bus journeys more reliable than raising revenue.

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